If You Buy One Thing Today, Make It a Vitamix Blender (It’s on Sale Again)

We originally posted this on Cyber Monday, but this deal is now back yet again just in time for holiday shopping. Buy it now, and it’ll arrive in time for Christmas. Below, writer Maxine Builder on her favorite blender.

Vitamix 5200 Blender, Black

$300 (45 percent off)
at Amazon

Despite the fact that Vitamix blenders often show up on professional chefs’ wish lists and are beloved by reviewers, for a long time, I was skeptical that they were actually worth the price, which can easily approach $600. Then I actually used a Vitamix blender — we had one in the test kitchen at my last job — and I fully became a convert. The blender was way more powerful than I imagined it would be, and it readily handled any task I threw at it, be it making a smooth, silky milkshake with Lucky Charms or liquefying a nasty combination of pineapple, matcha powder, orange juice, and celery during a 40-minute-long round of smoothie roulette on Facebook Live.

And if a Vitamix can pulverize celery, with all that stringy cellulose, without skipping a beat, there’s really nothing it can’t do. That’s why it’s been on my wish list ever since. So if you’ve been thinking about upgrading your blender, or have a loved one who’s as obsessed with making homemade nut milk as I am, this Cyber Monday is a good day to get on it because the Vitamix 5200 Blender is on sale at Amazon for $299, 46 percent off its regular price of $550.

Honorable mentions

Blendtec Total Blender Classic

$190 (48 percent off)
at Amazon

If $300 is still too much to spend on a blender, consider getting the Blendtec Total Blender Classic, currently on sale for $190. One Amazon reviewer, who was initially appalled by the original price, wrote, “After three years of using it all the time for everything from drinks to tamales, I have found this product to be the best investment, dollar for dollar, we have ever made.”

If you’re wondering what to get a home cook who’s obsessed withhygge, consider an enamel cocotte, ideal for making small batches of mulled wine or baking cinnamon rolls. This four-quart, cast-iron pot also comes in matte black, if you don’t like the bright-red enamel, for the same 33 percent off price.